APOS delegates heard from Ajit Mohan, CEO of Star India-owned Hotstar, about how it has taken the lead in India’s online video space.<\/p>\n
Hotstar has bet big on sports, with its live coverage of IPL matches crossing 7.1 million users last night, Mohan said. \u201cThe number we are gunning for is what we believe to be the largest number of simultaneous users for any event online [excluding China], 8 million. At 10 million, I suspect many elements of the internet ecosystem in India would be tested and challenged. I think there is a path to 10 million, but I don’t want to test it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But sports is just one category on Hotstar, which also delivers TV series\u2014local and imported\u2014movies and news. The success of the platform has dispelled the idea that only short-form content works well on mobile, Mohan said. \u201cFundamentally, consumers\u2019 appetite is for great stories, for curated long-form content. That is the big proof of concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
Star India had to develop its tech capabilities in order to make Hotstar a success, Mohan stressed. \u201cWe needed to become a technology company. We had to build serious technological capabilities inside the company. I don’t think it\u2019s possible to build a platform from a patchwork of technology partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
The platform is looking to change the format of storytelling and has been creating new user experiences, such as rolling out an online game to accompany live cricket coverage. \u201cWe had more than 20 million people play the game. The proposition is not just watching the same content, it\u2019s fundamentally changing storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n
While sports do drive big viewing numbers for Hotstar, \u201cmost of our consumption is on TV shows and movies,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cOver a year, 75 to 80 percent of all of our watch time comes from outside sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hotstar\u2019s early days saw it being used primarily as a catch-up service, Mohan continued. \u201cMore and more, people introduced to the platform start looking at it as a primary play. For many people it is the primary screen.\u201d Further, what works well on television works well on Hotstar, he noted. \u201cIt\u2019s about great stories. We\u2019re not seeing that people are consuming only one set of content. Consumers are watching Homeland<\/em> and Hindi TV shows. Those boundaries don\u2019t exist, those stereotypes don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Average watch time is 45 minutes to 60 minutes a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" APOS delegates heard from Ajit Mohan, CEO of Star India-owned Hotstar, about how it has taken the lead in India’s online video space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1082,698],"class_list":["post-4872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-top-stories","tag-ajit-mohan","tag-hotstar"],"yoast_head":"\n